U.S. Open close to home: Torrey Pines a year shy of hosting grand event

When the final putt drops on Sunday afternoon and the U.S. Open
champion is crowned at Oakmont in Western Pennsylvania, celebration
for one man will go on into the night.

And back here at home, the all-nighters will soon commence as
Torrey Pines Golf Course will officially be on the clock.

It's been more than four years since the U.S. Golf Association
awarded its '08 national championship to San Diego's golf jewel.
For a while, it seemed like 2008 would never come. Now, it's right
on top of us.

The 2008 Open officially tees off on the South Course exactly
365 days from now. And for many of those involved, that might as
well be tomorrow.

"It will be over before you know it," Mike Antolini, the USGA's
event manager for the '08 Open, told me recently.

As the golf world prepares to shift its focus west, here are
some Torrey Pines topics to start tracking over the months
ahead:

Open book

It seems all the pre-tournament talk this week has focused on
Johnny Miller and his blistering 63 to win the 1973 Open at
Oakmont. The storied country club outside Pittsburgh has hosted the
championship eight times and obviously has the benefit of history
to help tell its Open story.

Although Torrey Pines has hosted the Buick Invitational for the
last four decades, the Open slate will be clean next June. There
will be no talk about the past or "remember when" conversations.
The "what if" rule will be in full effect, with dreams of Tiger
Woods and Phil Mickelson tied for the lead on the back nine Sunday
afternoon. It's an exciting time to be a golf fan in San Diego - we
are about to make history after all.

Course changes

Rees Jones' revamp in 2001 was exactly what the South Course
needed to successfully court the USGA. But despite all that's been
done so far, the Torrey transformation project is hardly
complete.

The most noticeable change right now is the conversion to kikuyu
grass, a thick, lush grass that thrives in warm weather and wreaks
havoc on anyone who misses a fairway. Approximately 1 million
square feet of kikuyu has been planted on the South, half of which
came from four North County courses, including Pala Mesa Resort
back in April. Not all of the kikuyu has taken hold yet in the
rough and some shady areas, and chemicals have been applied to get
rid of the crab grass, Bermuda and rye still present. As a result,
some areas of the course look dead, kind of like a backyard lawn if
it doesn't get enough water. But the yellow-ish look is only
temporary.

The course is now stretched to more than 7,600 yards, and will
play as a par-70, making it the longest Open course on record - by
about 350 yards.

Early arrivals

Since Torrey Pines was awarded the Open, more and more players
have put the Buick Invitational on their schedules in order to get
a feel for the South Course. There's been a gradual increase since
2003, but what has been a trickle likely will turn into a rush of
talent eager to get an early look.